joni g

You are correct, this is a tool. I was very happy with my success, but that tool will be removed. And where there was a balloon taking up the space there is now more room for food. Did I want the cravings to come back, of course not. But here I am 15 lbs heavier than when I started my journey. If you truly believe this will help you, I say go for it. But for 2 weeks you will be sicker than ever in your life as your stomach tries to reject the balloon. I wish someone had told me to save my money and use it toward having the gastric sleeve. Keep us posted on your decision and progress.

You are correct, this is a tool. I was very happy with my success, but that tool will be removed. And where there was a balloon taking up the space there is now more room for food. Did I want the cravings to come back, of course not. But here I am 15 lbs heavier than when I started my journey. If you truly believe this will help you, I say go for it. But for 2 weeks you will be sicker than ever in your life as your stomach tries to reject the balloon. I wish someone had told me to save my money and use it toward having the gastric sleeve. Keep us posted on your decision and progress.

Congratulations on your new journey. I got my balloon on December 9, 2015. I lost about 35 lbs. Start weight 195. Goal weight 145. 160 was my lowest. My current weight is 210. Take my advice and don't get the balloon. Save your money and put it towards the gastric sleeve. I wish someone had told me this.

Congratulations on your new journey. I got my balloon on December 9, 2015. I lost about 35 lbs. Start weight 195. Goal weight 145. 160 was my lowest. My current weight is 210. Take my advice and don't get the balloon. Save your money and put it towards the gastric sleeve. I wish someone had told me this.

My six months are up! My balloon will be removed tomorrow!!! I have lost 35 lbs.
Has anyone else had theirs removed? I have no idea how I will be feeling. I hope I don't feel as bad as when I had the procedure done!

@@joni g - thanks so much for sharing. I still have a few months to go, but it's helpful to know what to expect. :-) Best wishes to you on the rest of your journey!

My six months are up! My balloon will be removed tomorrow!!! I have lost 35 lbs.
Has anyone else had theirs removed? I have no idea how I will be feeling. I hope I don't feel as bad as when I had the procedure done!

My instructions were to do semi liquid diet two days before so I did Protein Shakes. Clear liquid diet 24 hours before. I had one Protein Shake as soon as I woke up the day before the procedure along with my coffee. I was to have nothing 12 hours before the procedure. I stopped everything at 6 pm. I did have a sugar free mint lifesaver for the dry mouth I had.

My six months are up! My balloon will be removed tomorrow!!! I have lost 35 lbs.
Has anyone else had theirs removed? I have no idea how I will be feeling. I hope I don't feel as bad as when I had the procedure done!

Congratulations on 35 lbs! My removal is scheduled for Jul 22. Mixed emotions. I am afraid of feeling hungry and going back to old ways, but am looking forward to feeling normal again. I have been feeling hungry the last week or so, so am going to have to be diligent about my eating habits. I have only lost 25 lbs. Have not lost anything in the last 4 weeks. But I have gone down 2 pants sizes so I feel pretty good about this decision. Good luck tomorrow. Please keep us posted, I would love to know how you felt after the procedure.

Hi - all good questions. :-) While some people struggle with the balloon, most do not for the "first few weeks" ... it's more like the first few days. I did not feel great for the first few days, but I was not horribly miserable, either (and after a week - maybe less - I was fine). I ended up throwing up three times in first two days, but that's it. If you are properly prepared (with meds, nutrition, etc.), it's not that bad ... certainly not as bad as I expected. Having said that, different people react differently. I know three people who had it within a week of me - two did better than I did (not throwing up in those first few days at all, although one did later) and one did worse (she was really miserable). Just like with surgery, you don't know how your body will respond.
In terms of why the balloon rather than surgery, the balloon is much less invasive, has fewer risks and, despite those first few yucky days, has a faster recovery time. I was always too chicken to permanently alter my anatomy, so this was a good option for me, despite not being covered by insurance (it is ~ $5000-$8500 for the insertion, removal and a year of doctor/dietitian support ... some places even offer exercise physiologist and therapy support). Having said that, I would not be surprised if insurance starts to cover it soon (it's so new that I just don't think the insurance companies have had a chance to process it yet).
I talked to the gentleman who lost 77 pounds after he had his balloon removed and he was doing well. He was VERY motivated to lose more, so I would be surprised if he's gained anything back (he only had it removed a few weeks ago). Please note that 77 pounds is not typical. Most people report 25-50 pounds in the six months. Please also note that you cannot get the balloon in the US if your BMI is over 40 ... so most people who get it have less to lose than people who have surgery.
Do people gain the weight back ... some do and some don't, and some just gain some of it back. It all depends on whether or not they treat the six months as an opportunity to change their habits and commit to a lifestyle change. It also depends on whether or not they take advantage of the additional six months of support that are included in the package. In other words, the balloon is just a tool than can be used to kick-start weight loss ... it's not a magic bullet. (However, I would say the same thing about surgery - unfortunately most of the people I know who have had surgery have not lost as much as they had hoped [some not at all!] and/or gained some weight back after an initial loss because they had not made necessary lifestyle changes.) Having said all of that, in balloon studies, people who had had balloons did a better job of maintaining than people who did not.
In summary, the decision to get a balloon or to have surgery is a big one - no one should take it lightly. I highly recommend doing a lot of research, reading the studies and meeting with more than one doctor. But at the end of the day, whatever someone decides, it is just a tool - it's not the answer. As my doctor said, his job was the easy part - the hard work was mine to do. No matter how you approach weight loss (even if you just do a diet) it requires planning, commitment and diligence ... forever. And if you do it with the balloon, that six months should be used to not only drop the pounds, but also to get counseling and support to work through the issues that caused the weight gain in the first place.
I hope that helps. Please feel free to reach out with any other questions. Regardless, best of luck to you and your friend!

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I take 20mg of omeprazole. Doctor says I can up it to 40 mg, but I only do that on days when its bad. He also said I can add Zantac when its bad. Its important, I have learned, to eat dinner early, before 6, and eat a light dinner. The other issue I battle is gas! Last night was the worst ever. I only had a small dry baked potato and 3 oz grilled chicken. You'd think I had a massive dinner at a Mexican restaurant...lol!

Seems like we are all experiencing so many different things. I was and still have never been nauseous. really had no side effects and I'm wondering if they should have filled my balloon up more. It's at 500cc. I'm on day 25 and still have seen only a 4-5 pound drop. They told me I'm the only person to ever feel ok and not lost a lot of weight by now. Not something you want to hear. I'm not happy bc I spent so much money on something I thought would work...eating like 1000-1200 calories a day and still nothing much. They are talking about putting me on weight loss meds too. Ugh

I feel like I'm over my stall. I went on a cruise and came home and was down a pound. I'll take it.
19-29 more lbs to go. I have had some stomach pain the past few days but I'm not sure why.

That's awesome Joni!
Good luck jls123!

I've been doing pretty good until today. I feel super nauseous. My stomach is contracting a lot around my balloon baby (as I lovingly refer to it). I'm down 8 lbs. 30 more to go.

You will be fine ..what else would you be doing this winter right..chill and watch tv.
shakes are from no protien drink a protien shake

I had my balloon inserted yesterday. I feel terrible. I am sooo sick. I haven't thrown up but I dry heave quite a bit. I hope this goes away soon. If I have another 2 weeks of this I might have to have it come out. I'm trying to drink Water and clear juices but it's hard to get much down.

It's funny that since my procedure 1 week ago , i have so much more time on my hands.Just 3 weeks ago, I was a was a step away from getting the sleeve surgery . I had already had most of the tests and was sitting in the psychs office when he asked me If i had any concerns. And, at that moment It dawned upon me that besides that typical elective surgery fears, I was most fearful of the stomach stretching back as I heard that it was possible. I truly got that there was no 100% sure fire way to prevent myself from gaining it back again. The sleeve was supposedly permanent . And yet, I had been up and down most of life, always praying when I was at goal weight, that I wouldn't gain it back... This time it took 4 years and boom there I was, no longer fitting into my clothes, isolating, planning my next food adventure. I was miserable, numb and although I am quite active in my social and work life, i was all alone. My 2 friends that I was sharing this can be called by their procedure names, "Lap-band" and"Sleeve". Lap-band was a6 year success of 80lbs. She attributed it to monthly check ins and group support. "Sleeve" was new to the game. She wasn't utilizing the support and I noticed a difference. It's not about the perfection of eating. It's the how and why. No one is better at finding"tricks" to eating basically the same, under this new regime than I.
So, here I am , day 8 and i'm going to spend the next 51 weeks learning how to eat. This week I got to watch and live through every moment that I would have previously used food to substitute, comfort, numb, kill time, avoid etc... We are on 2 sides of the same street. I know that without support I will fail. Even if I lose all of the weight on my own, I know the inevitable. I'm going to use the phone, see my Dr , attend support and really be present. Oh, and keep drinking that h20!

Hi:
Could you please tell us what it feels like to have the Orbera balloon inside? How did it effect your appetite so far? Any nausea? Is pre-op liquid and postop all liquids for the first XXX period of time?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Thank you.
Sue

I don't actually feel anything different since the balloon.. I do get full rather quickly now. I did not have any pre procedure days of liquids or special diet. In regards to nausea, apparently I'm pretty lucky. I experienced it only the evening of first day for about 20 hours. The meds and patch helped. I had it done on a friday and was back at work on Monday. I am on liquids for the the first 2 weeks.

You seem to be doing great , I am on day 6 and not really eating to much at all . Spoonful of yogurt here and there . I could not agree more with you about the planning around food . The past week has been really different from previous Friday night dinner out at our fav Italian restraunt.

Last night I started vomiting and it basically went on throughout the night. My Dr thought perhaps my balloon was lodged somewhere and had me lay on my sides and then do a "downward dog" pose. The nausea stopped. Very interesting.

Soft foods... Well, i'm eating them. And, i'm not really following a plan other than no white flour or added sugar. Plus, I'm not really sure when i'm full. That is, until i feel awful. I'm not eating and drinking at the same time, and I'm chewing slowly. 2 weeks and 1 day in, I'm 17 lbs down. It is interesting that after a stressful work call, i ended up eating a yogurt. I wasn't hungry, and didn't need to eat. I was overtly full for the next 4 hours. Not fun. My favorite soft foods as of this moment are Protein pudding, salmon salad, almond milk yogurt, and hummos. I had some steamed dumplings that were fine until an hour after eating... Not sure if i will revisit and my balloon seemed to get lodged again. The downward dog move seems to work. My understanding is that several people who have had the "reshape" balloon have had to have it removed because of the size, that they get stuck.. Would love to hear any experiences.